Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Old Chengku (Batu Lesong) has joined Celebrity Chefs

To think of my mother’s kitchen is to remember the ever present sight of the grey granite mortar with its heavy pestle sitting in the corner of the kitchen floor, waiting faithfully to pound the mounds of fresh or rehydrated chillies, ginger, fresh turmeric, galangal, shallot and garlic on a daily basis. Long before it was used by many Western celebrity chefs and featured prominently on a modern kitchen bench, the granite mortar and pestles have been used by generations in Singapore and its neighboring countries to make curry pastes and to grind produce and spices. It was the original food grinder used by our parents and their generations before. Many older Singaporeans would steadfastly defend that the fine flavors produced from foods ground in a granite mortar and pestle are far superior to the flavors of foods ground in a metal-bladed blender. Although, it is an indispensible kitchen tool to prepare a good chilli sambal, it is still an ancient skill to be acquired; the end result very much depends on the user as the grinding time and pressure of the pestle has be adjusted accordingly during the process. The true quality of a Nonya family’s meal depended on the hand grinding skill on its sambal paste, hence the old Nonya saying “one can judge a new daughter-in-law’s cooking skill by tasting her sambal.” In order to keep the flavour of the food pure and provide years of service in the household kitchen, a properly cleaned granite mortar and pestle has to be maintained. Granite is especially prone to staining when exposed to acidic and oily foods.Simply rinse the mortar and pestle in warm water immediately after use and clean it with an abrasive dish sponge to remove any stubborn food residue left behind. Rinse again and dry the mortar and pestle with a clean cloth before putting away.

12 comments:

By the way, was just thinking; in addition to replicating or trying toget as close to what we used to eat or have in SG or MY, would youconsider going down an "R&D" track whereby leveraging on your culinaryskill and knowledge, to come up with SG or MY style cuisine thatutilize cheap or cheaper local ingredients, seasonal or otherwise?

I think this may be a big help to some newly arrives, especially thosewith kids, and coming over trying to establish a home (ie, instead ofthose posted here by companies or government - these folks should haveno worries about budget or the raising A$!)

Hi Ed,You noticed I try to make most of the stuff at home e.g kiam chye, salted eggs. I even try to have a herb garden under the Hill Hoist 9cloth-lines) to utilise every available ground in my backyard.Hope it helps to cut down the food mile :)

in our Ipoh hokkien, it is called "chenghu". I got one when I left home to work in KL, my mum bought a mini-size for me. Too small to pound more than 4 fresh chilliies. This chenghu holds sentimental value for me, since mum already passed away years ago.....

Cheers! anak Perak to your wife! another dish, chives cooked with cockles, paste with starch, and dip with fresh pounded chillies sauce, have you tried this chives cockle paste before? Mom cooked this dish for us also, long long long time ago....

hi Uncle Phil,i bought a hand blender as the batu lesong was just too heavy to lug home. after using it a few times (it doesn't work well with small amounts but handy with copious amounts) i am so getting a batu lesong, even if it means carrying it home by bus ;pgrowing up seeing and hearing my ah ma and mum pounding away chillies, spices etc this traditional tool has a special place in my heart and it brings out wonderful flavours in foods too.keep you stories coming, i love reading them :)Naz